I.  Rapid Expansion of Fort Worth

1.  Individual land owners need to voluntarily select the ETJ of the city they prefer, and those cities’ ETJ must not have any gaps for Fort Worth to slip through.

2.  The leadership needed to communicate the urgency and vision must be countywide.

II.  County Roads and Regional Mobility

1.  The County must push forward in establishing a long-term land plan for the location of future roads and a prioritized list of maintenance projects.  The plan must incorporate the needs and desires of the community and communicate them to those with the power to make land-use decisions.

2.  As issues relate to the continued building, repair, and maintenance of the County roads and bridges, it is recommended the County adopt the “unit” system, which would allow an engineer to respond with projects identified in the growth plan mentioned above.

  
 

3.  The County should implement a public campaign to inform people of its plans to carry out road improvement projects with the cooperation of TxDOT.  Relationship building between the County and TxDOT on road issues will allow for greater cooperation on long-term, critical priorities as the acceleration of:

-           The interchange project for 380 and 287
-           The completion of 380 West to Denton
-           114 from Rhome to Bridgeport
-           The planning and design of the TRANS-TX Corridor Project within Wise County

4.  The Trans-TX project and the Regional Mobility and Air Attainment issues for the 16 North Texas Metroplex counties require immediate and sustained attention from Wise County. A standing strategic planning committee should be established to serve the primary function of being the liaison between the county and its membership in the North Texas Regional Council of Governments (NTCOG) and the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO).

III.  Rail and Airport

1.  The County should participate more vigorously in the NTCOG to explore the possibility of creating more rail-related service industries in the County and the expanded use of the airports.  This role will become more important as Tarrant County evolves further into one of the nation’s leading inland “agile ports”

2.  The County should support Bridgeport’s landing strip expansion to accommodate the requests of Devon.  There also appears to be a growing market for recreational flight training, as well as a potential Small Jet Taxi industry.

IV.  Recreation and Open Space Planning

1.  Given that Lake Bridgeport is roughly 13,000 acres and the LBJ Grasslands 20,000 acres and these land bases are already public assets, developing a recreational/open space plan for the County is possible. These existing public assets should be linked together and with private sector forces to carry forth the vision.

2.  The grasslands are unique as one of the largest preservation areas in the entire region and indeed the state. A cohesive countywide open space network plan can bring recreational, ecological, educational and economical benefits to the citizens of Wise County—unique benefits that are also compatible with the current major economic drivers of the County gas production and aggregate mining and unique benefits that promote the rural character and values of the county.

3.  The commissioners should form a permanent open space steering committee, with the charge to further investigate and formulate the plan and to create coalitions with regional public organizations as NCTCOG and interested private non-profit groups as the Chisholm Trail Legacy National Park exploratory committee who will join in the effort to build it.

V.  Other Issues

1.  Desalination options for saltwater from injection wells should be explored to determine the need to mitigate the potential issues related to accidents and leaks.